MORE than 10 employees of call centre Stream International will be sacked and more could follow as a pornographic email scandal rocks the Londonderry company.
The company moved to sack the employees after it emerged that an explicit email has been circulating at the company's two Londonderry sites, Buncrana Road on the Cityside and Spencer Road on the Waterside.
The email, the contents of which are too vi
le to describe, apparently also contains a link to a child porn website. It is understood management have traced the message and anyone who has received the email and forwarded it on is to face serious disciplinary action.
A source at the company told the Sentinel seven people have been sacked at the Cityside site and more faced the boot at Stream's Waterside office yesterday. Two Supervisors are believed to be among those fired and the news coincides with a visit this week from the international firm's Chief Executive Officer and President, Toni Portmann.
It is thought that seventy employees have been investigated in relation to the email and the source claimed many have resigned before they were sacked.
"I didn't see the email but apparently if you tried to close it you couldn't, it would move all around the screen. There was a link to a child porn website in the email, though I don't think anyone knew what it was," the source said.
"I know at least seven people have been sacked in the Cityside office and more are due to be sacked in the Waterside office on Tuesday. That includes two supervisors. I believe a total of 70 people were being investigated."
According to the source a strict internet and communication policy is frequently communicated to employees.
"We receive emails from the company stating that misuse of the internet and emails is considered very serious, in fact we had one round a couple of days before all this started.
"We get a lot of jokes sent round but I don't know of any other emails like this. I think this was a stupid one-off. If I had got it I wouldn't have forwarded it on. You would have to be a bit stupid to send it on.
"I would have thought they could trace it back to see who sent it in the first place."
Stream International have refused to comment and police were unable to comment on the matter.
The full article contains 413 words and appears in Londonderry Sentinel newspaper.
